Automatic cloudbased notification system for vehicle accidents

Abstract

The proposed method and system is a client-server system where client is an application monitoring and processing the readings of the sensors of a personal mobile device in a moving vehicle and when the possibility of a crush is predicted, transmit to the remote server a provisional alarm. If after a predefined time period a FALSE ALARM signal not received by the remote server from the client then an accident alarm ticket will be forwarded from the remote server to an emergency service center.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of sending an alarm on the occurrence of a vehicle accident, comprising the steps of:
 a) a personal mobile device in a vehicle monitoring readings from sensors of the personal mobile device; 
 b) the personal mobile device processing the readings from the sensors to detect a condition which indicates a possibility that the vehicle is about to have an accident; 
 c) when the condition which indicates a possibility that the vehicle is about to have an accident is detected, the personal mobile device transmitting a provisional alarm to a remote server; 
 d) the remote server receiving the provisional alarm from the personal mobile device; 
 e) the remote server starting a timer upon receipt of the provisional alarm from the personal mobile device; 
 f) if the remote server does not receive a cancellation of the provisional alarm from the personal mobile device before the timer reaches an end of a predefined time, the remote server forwarding an alarm to an emergency service center. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of the personal mobile device sending a cancellation to the remote server if an accident did not occur before the end of a time which is less than the predetermined time from the time the mobile device sent the provisional alarm. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , in which when the personal mobile device sends a cancellation of a provisional alarm, the personal mobile device adjusts a threshold to be used in the step of detecting a condition that indicates a possibility that the vehicle is about to have an accident, such that an occurrence of the same condition will not trigger another provisional alarm. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , in which the personal mobile device detects a condition which indicates a possibility of an accident by the steps of:
 processing the readings from the sensors to generate a predicted next state of the vehicle after a time delay; 
 waiting the time delay; 
 comparing the predicted next state to an actual state; 
 if a difference between the actual state and the predicted next state exceeds a defined threshold, the personal mobile device considers a condition which indicates a possibility of an accident to have been detected. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising the step of the personal mobile device adjusting the defined threshold after the personal mobile device sends a cancellation of a provisional alarm, such that an occurrence of the same condition will not trigger another provisional alarm. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , in which a length of the provisional alarm is less than 40 bytes. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , in which the provisional alarm comprises an identification of the personal mobile device and coordinates of a location of the personal mobile device. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , in which a length of the provisional alarm is selected such that the provisional alarm is sent by the personal mobile device in less than 33 milliseconds. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the personal mobile device transmits the provisional alarm to the remote server through a mobile broadband network.